Echo disregarded her mother's insistence on referring to her as Princess, electing to groan instead. "Mother, what are you doing here? You're better use protecting Scootaloo..."
"On your hooves, child, come on."
The warrior inside her pushed her onward. She rolled onto her stomach, placing her hooves against the ground. The pain was excruciating. It was bright and intense, and seemed to radiate through from her back into her chest. With every breath her pain flared, like blowing on a flame. She growled against the agony and forced her legs to extend. Her limbs shook under her weight, and she closed her eyes, taking quick, shallow breaths.
"Can you walk?" Chrysalis cantered over slowly.
"I don't think I'll be able to keep up. I sure won't be much use in a fight right now. Just go, already. Please. Just keep Scootaloo safe, okay?" She tried to step forward and felt her left foreleg buckle. A quick glance showed that the chitin just below her knee had been badly fractured. A bit of hemolymph, the substance that acted as blood in a changeling's undisguised body, dribbled out of the wound. In most invertebrates it was a pale, mostly clear color, but for changelings it was faintly green.
"You aren't dead yet." Chrysalis looked around and moved quickly. She ripped a set of drapes and broke a few pieces of wooden furniture. With the aid of a little magic, she was able to fashion the wooden bits into a crutch. She tied the a part of the torn drape tightly around Echo's wound. The remainder was tightly bound around her chest, eliciting a scream from the mare, but closing off the substantial wound on her back. All told, her ministrations took about fifteen minutes.
Another experimental step showed that it was at least now possible to walk without further injuring herself. "I still don't know what you're trying to accomplish, Mother. I failed. You should be trying to help Sc--"
"Would you please shut up? I'm no good at helping the filly. I'm good enough to give her a few kicks and entertain her briefly, but I can't raise her. I don't want to, either. That's your place. Now stop arguing and obey me."
Years of conditioning compelled her to obey her Queen's command. "Yes, Chrysalis. Where should we go, then?"
"We need to get to the castle. It's the most well-fortified position. Plus, as much as I hate to admit it, those alicorns are powerful. We need every able-bodied magic user we can get."
"It's also where I sent Scootaloo and the rest of them. How do we get there though? Even if we made it past these ... other changelings ... I doubt the Royal Guard will be too terribly inclined to allow us to enter."
"You let me worry about that. For now, we need to get out there and stick to the shadows."
Echo followed as best she could. She watched Chrysalis stick her head out of the door and look around. In a bolt, she was off and hiding in a dark alley between two nearby buildings. After a few more seconds, Echo had caught up. "By the way, Mother, can you fill me on on what's going on here?"
"This... is the result of a power vacuum. Once I was deposed, that left a huge swatch of Equestrian territory over which no hive held claim. I had recently attended a summit of all changeling monarchs on the continent... I did my best to persuade them that any who attacked Equestria would be likely to suffer the same fate as I did, but... well, I ran into a bit of a language barrier with one of them."
"Oh, you too, huh? Fortunately, their intentions seem quite clear." The duo watched as a group of the stocky changelings buzzed past on a patrol. "They moved quickly. This entire sector is already pacified." The sounds of battle could be heard up the hill toward the castle.
"Yes, me too. King Setae. As best I could tell by looking at him, he was an exile from some hive far off-continent. Certainly didn't match any regional changeling patterns I've ever seen. I think he was only there because changeling law, no matter where you're from, dictates he had to be there in order to be recognized as an official hive; he still didn't understand a word of what was being said." She sighed as she realized the coast was clear, and the two bolted across the street and continued through the dark alleyway. "None of us -- the other leaders and myself that is -- none of us were really comfortable with him there. There's just something off about the big lunk. He's smart, really smart... and he's got bloodlust. I could see it in his eyes... he has no compassion."
"Implying you ever did, Mother?"
"I have plenty of compassion. I just know that showing that compassion at the wrong time is an exploitable weakness. I cared for all my drones, Echo. That's why I initially attacked this city, if you remember?" She held out a hoof to stop Echo following. The alley intersected with another alley up ahead, and the narrow path was blocked off by two of these new changelings. She turned her head and whispered. "Stay here."
Turning back, she exhaled quickly and trotted forward with determination. Her horn glowed a faint green, and just as the two drones turned to see her, they were wrapped in a similar aura. With a frightening speed and force, the two were smashing into each other, and then apart into the walls on the side of the alley. Chrysalis picked up the unconscious drones limply, and hurled them down into the ground a couple more times for good measure. If they weren't dead, they were close. The Queen motioned over her shoulder for Echo to advance.
Echo was actually, for the first time in ages, terrified of her mother. She'd just completely destroyed those two drones, and hadn't even broken a sweat. How powerful is Mother, anyway? She wasn't even trying...
"Well, hurry up!" The Queen spat out over her shoulder. "Don't just gawk!"
She hissed in pain as she moved, but she bolted over to her mother as quickly as she could. "How are we going to get past the guards though? Like I said, they're not really going to want to let changelings into the castle."
"I told you to let me worry about that. I presume you can't change shape right now?"
She closed her eyes and focused. Flames licked the ground at her hooves, but wouldn't move higher than her knees. She sighed and shook her head. "No, sorry."
"I expected it. That's okay." She scurried a bit further ahead to a gap in the buildings. The sounds of fighting were quite loud, now. Bolts of magic could be heard striking buildings and chitin alike. Every once in a while, metallic clashing would find its way through the haze of other sounds. If she listened very closely, Echo could hear screams as well. Some were changeling, some were pony. She tried her best to ignore those sounds for now.
Chrysalis surveyed the area ahead. They were now on the edge of the castle grounds. The Royal Guards had a perimeter established at the gate, which was presently closed. A semicircular area about twenty five yards across at the widest point had been barricaded. Along the perimeter of the barricade, earth pony guards had taken up stations armed with spears. Behind them, at the center of the semicircle, the unicorns had taken position to support the pegasi and earth ponies in their battles. Every once in a while they would fire blasts of magic to stave off being overrun, but mostly they were moving materials, healing, and sometimes erecting last minute shields. The pegasi were along the battlements on the wall, and were all armed with bows. The air was ablaze with arrows and prismatic flashes of magic. As Chrysalis was peeking around the corner, a stray arrow lodged itself in the wall next to her. She quickly retreated. "Okay," she sighed, "this is going to be harder than I thought."
"What's going on out there, Mother?"
"I'm not totally sure. I might need your input here."
Echo understood. The Queen was not, herself, a tactician. She relied on the input of generals to survey the situation surrounding a battle and make a command decision. She walked forward hesitantly and peeked around the same corner. After about ten seconds of watching, she retreated as well. She groaned in pain as she tried to speak, only able to get out a couple words every few seconds. "It looks to me like they have an entire platoon assaulting this point, about 40 changelings from what I could see. The limited assault force suggests to me that they're also investigating and/or assaulting alternate routes of ingress. The fact that they're assaulting a gate suggests that there's a magical barrier surrounding the castle itself. The lack of civilian presence also suggests one of two things. Either all the civilians have already been killed or captured, or they have retreated into the castle. Considering the ferocity with which the ponies are defending their post, I th--"
"How do we get in, child?"
"R... right. Uh... well, since they're doing their best to keep changelings out, that presents a bit of a problem." She tapped her chin and leaned against a wall for support. Her head was beginning to spin, but she fought to stay focused. "Okay. This is a bit of a gamble. It depends on how thorough Setae's forces were in doing their recon... but you remember the caves underneath the city, right?"
"Of course!" Chrysalis smiled brightly. "Why didn't I think of that?"
"If they don't know about the caves, then it's possible that route is unobstructed. I'd bet that Ricochet would have asked Celestia to leave some way for me to rendezvous with them, and I'd bet the caves are the route they'd leave open. I also bet that they're ready to shut off that route at the drop of a feather, though."
"What makes you so sure Ricochet would have arranged that?"
"Just trust me."
"Well... do you think you could make it from here, if I got you down to the caves?"
"Yeah, we could make it easily."
"Good." She smiled ruefully.
* * *
About half an hour earlier...
Ricochet's ears shot up as he heard a loud commotion from downstairs. He motioned for everypony to stay quiet. Then, he heard Echo's voice. "Guys! Get Scootaloo out of here! Get to the castle! Go now!"
He responded quickly, stepping into the hallway and shouting down the staircase. "What the hell is going on down there? Do you need help?"
"JUST GO! DON'T ASK QUESTIONS, RICKY! GET SCOOT OUT OF HERE, NOW!" More commotion was quickly heard.
He wheeled around and returned to Mrs. Velvet and Night Light's room. "Guys, we need to go now. Echo says we need to get to the castle. I'm not sure what's happening, but it's obviously bad. Come on. I'm going to get Scootaloo."
"I'll teleport us!" Mrs. Velvet nodded, outwardly confident but inwardly struggling to remember the details of the spell. She and her husband followed Ricochet into Scootaloo's room.
"Ricky, what's happening?!" Scootaloo looked up, terrified, as the changeling picked her up.
"I don't know, but we need to go now." He replied, turning around to see Mrs. Velvet standing in the doorway.
"Everyone hold hooves." She nodded and closed her eyes, a faintly purple glow surrounding her horn.
Ricochet nodded, setting Scootaloo down and grabbing one of her hooves. With the other, he took one of Mrs. Velvet's.
In a flash, everything turned upside down. He felt like he was being put through a pasta machine, and worried for a moment that he would wind up turning inside out. Nausea was the primary sensation as distorted images and flashes of color filled his view. It only lasted a moment before he found himself standing in the middle of Celestia's court. He shook his head to regain his bearings, and once recovered, he found himself face-to-face with a spear.
Twilight Sparkle, Mrs. Velvet, Night Light, and Scootaloo were all being held back next to Celestia's throne by a number of guards. Celestia and Luna weren't on their thrones, though. Instead, they were both standing on the floor at the base of their thrones, wearing armor that looked ancient, but still held an obviously arcane glow. Celestia's was golden, with accents of silver, and Luna's was silver with accents of purple. They stared at him for a moment before Celestia stepped close.
"Who are you?" She tilted her head a little. "You brought these three with you," she motioned to Mrs. Velvet, Night Light, and Scootaloo, "and I know they aren't changelings, since my former student has imbued this room with a charm that dispels changeling disguises. The question is, why would a changeling deliver prisoners to me?"
Ricochet's eyes were wide. Celestia would have towered over him any day, but in her armor she was even more imposing. He stammered. "I... I brought... I got them here... I did it so I could... because they were in danger!"
"Princess Celestia," Twilight stepped forward, "this is Ricochet, he's ... a friend."
"Wherefore hast thou not told us of this changeling before, Twilight Sparkle?" Luna's chest puffed out and she glared intensely at the new arrival.
"He's been a ... guest. He came to me looking to reform, like Echo had done, so I decided to help him. I should have told you. I'm sorry."
"Yes," Celestia chided gently, "you should have told us. Regardless, if you say this is friend, not foe, then..." she motioned to the guards, who quickly lowered their weapons and stepped back, "... another friend will be welcomed eagerly."
"All due respect, Princess," Ricochet stammered, "what exactly is going on?"
Celestia sighed. "I had been hoping you would be able to answer that."
"Lo," Luna motioned to one of the windows, "our city lies besieged, beset by invasion yet again! The culprit is apparent to see..."
Ricochet stood next to the slightly smaller Princess, though she still towered over him. He looked out the window and saw a swarm of changelings flying through the air. Their pattern was remarkably well-organized; better than he had ever seen from changelings. "I... I don't recognize them, and I wasn't involved with fighting anyway, I was just a structural drone." He turned. "I'm sorry, I don't know what's going on."
"It's not your fault... Ricochet, was it? Thank you for ensuring these ponies returned here safely."
"Echo..." his ears twitched. "She's still back at the house, she must have been trying to fight off the changelings!"
Luna and Celestia shared a sullen glance, before Luna spoke. "We share your grief, Ricochet."
"Grief? What do you mean, I need to go get her!"
"Ricochet," Twilight winced, "nopony other than trained Royal Guards who have fought against these changelings have been able to resist them."
"She was a fighter, she knows how to hold her own, she is well-trained!"
"She hasn't been a fighter for three years. Do you think she'll still be able to hold them off?"
"I don't care. We need to help her."
"I'm sorry," Celestia shook her head. "I can't allow you to leave, it would require us to lower the barrier and expose ourselves to attack."
"I got in just fine, why can't I get out?"
"Because, Ricky..." Mrs. Velvet stepped forward, "Twily's spell lets ponies teleport through it, but not changelings. You were able to come along because I brought you."
"So why can't somepony teleport me out again?"
"Because we have forbidden it." Luna stomped a hoof resolutely. "We will not permit our subjects to expose themselves to unnecessary danger. "
"You're just going to let Echo die?"
"If that is her fate, then we are sorry, Ricochet."
"There... is another option, your highnesses." Twilight spoke again.
* * *
Chrysalis' horn glowed brightly, and she called Echo over. Once she had come over, Chrysalis zapped the ground directly between herself and her daughter. A green orb surrounded them, and they slowly sank down into the ground.
A moment later, the green aura disappeared, and they found themselves in complete darkness. Again, Chrysalis' horn flashed brightly, and the cavern was bathed in a green glow. The light refracted off of the crystals that dotted the walls, seemingly amplifying it. They were completely alone, and aside from the gentle crackling sound of Chrysalis' magic, the cavern was completely silent.
Echo glanced around. "It seems like we're alone."
"Lucky us that Setae moved too quickly and didn't do his research."
"Agreed, but I still think we shouldn't stick around here for too long, Mother."
"Of course. Come on then, the castle should be this way." She trotted off into the darkness.
Echo winced and struggled to maintain a good pace. Her injuries were extensive. She looked down in the course of traversing the rocky ground in the caverns, and noticed that more of her hemolymph was the culprit. The makeshift bandage had soaked through. That was undoubtedly why she'd been feeling her head spinning. She was in very bad shape, and she began to question whether her injuries were even survivable at all.
There was a rail track nearby, about the right gauge for a minecart. It extended uphill and to the left side of a fork in the path. Both changelings silently agreed that following the track was likely the best chance of finding a way into the castle.
Some time later -- Echo wasn't sure how much time -- a faint yellow glow came into view in the distance of the cavern in which they were walking. Chrysalis extinguished her horn, not wanting to give away their presence, and instructed Echo to hold on to her tail to keep them from getting separated. A few more minutes, and they were close enough to see the source of the light. The light was being cast off of a series of oil lanterns that were hung around the makeshift encampment, which itself took up about fifty-five square meters at her best guess.
There was an encampment with two squads of 9 Lunar guards for a total of 18; they were all batponies. Very well-armed batponies. Echo remarked to herself. Indeed, each of them had a crossbow slung over their shoulders, and most also had crescent swords on the opposite sides of their armor. Four of them were at sentry posts, looking into the darkness toward the two mares that were now heading toward them.
Far more impressive, though, was the guards' apparent commanding officer. Princess Luna herself stood in the glow of one of the lanterns, speaking casually with a few of the guards. At least, as casually as Luna could speak with one of her subjects.
"Your Highness!" One of the sentries shouted, turning around. Evidently they could see much more clearly in the dark than normal ponies could, which Echo supposed made sense. "They're here!"
Luna rushed over as Chrysalis and Echo stumbled into the encampment. Echo released her mother's tail and sat roughly on a nearby rock, trying desperately to subdue her own pain. Her foreleg was now stained green from her hemolymph, and she felt tremendously tired.
"We are happy to see that you are unharmed." Luna said to the two changelings.
"Unharmed? Are you a moron? Look at her!" Chrysalis exclaimed tactlessly, rushing to Echo.
Luna's eyes narrowed at the Queen's impertinence, and she glared at Chyrsalis, but bit her tongue. "We shall send for medical aid post-haste." She nodded to a guard, who took the cue and bolted off toward the castle after giving a sharp salute.
Echo looked up. "Is Scootaloo okay? Did she make it?"
"Yes," Luna said reassuringly, "Scootaloo is quite all right, as is Twilight Velvet, Night Light, Twilight Sparkle, and the other changeling. They are presently in the care of our sister."
"Thank the stars..." She coughed, and a blinding pain radiated through her chest. The pain itself caused her to cough more, and that cycle continued for some time, causing her to drop to the floor on her side, coughing madly. She saw Chrysalis kneeling over her and talking, but couldn't hear what was being said. Suddenly, the lack of oxygen wasn't so distressing. She felt a sense of euphoria sweep over her as her vision went gray, and slowly faded to black.